Dominican Republic qualified to the semifinals with the best record among pool winners at the annual Women's Volleyball Pan American Cup

Lima, Peru, June 12, 2013 – Dominican Republic and United States earned byes to the semifinals of the Movistar Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup as the pool winners with best records after the conclusion of the preliminary phase of the annual intercontinental contest.

As semifinalists of the tournament, both teams punched tickets to the FIVB World Grand Prix of 2014, the premier annual women’s competition. The top four NORCECA teams and the top two South America teams, including Brazil, get berths to the prestigious event.

Dominican Republic and United States, both with 3-0 win-loss records in Pools C and A accumulated 14 and 13 points respectively. Cuba finished also with 3-0 mark in Pool B, but obtained only 11 points and will play in the quarterfinals of Friday.

Brazil, Argentina and Canada all finished with 2-1 record and 10 points and their seeding for the next stage was determined by points-ratio, avoiding the confrontation between teams from the same pool according to regulations.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Brazil meets Canada, while Cuba takes on Argentina. In the qualification process for positions 7-10, Peru goes against Mexico while Puerto Rico clashes with Costa Rica.

United States 3, Argentina 0Defending champions United States subdued Argentina in straight sets (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) to claim first place in Pool A and direct spot in the semifinals. Nicole Fawcett charted 15 points to lead the American attack, followed by Kristin Hillenbrand with 13. Megan Hodge, Rachel Adams and Lauren Gibbemeyer finished with 11, 10 and 8 respectively. Argentina’s Lucia Fresco finished with 14 and Emilce Sosa added 11. USA held a 7-6 edge in blockings and outserved the opponents 4-2.

Pool B in Iquitos

Cuba 3, Peru 2In another exhausting match played at Juan Pinasco Villanueva Coliseum of Iquitos, Cuba won 3-2 over hosts Peru by scores of 19-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 15-12. Playing under a noisy partisan crown, the Cubans were able to keep their effectiveness in their attack scoring 61 points against 47 by the Peruvians, besides relying on their blocking to score 13 points to 10 by the local squad. Cuban captain Ana Cleger was again the top scorer of her team with 19 points, followed by the 17 of Rosanna Giel. The best scorers of the match were on the Peruvian side with Raffaela Camet recording 23 and Patricia Soto finishing with 20.

Canada 3, Costa Rica 0Canada qualified to the quarterfinals by defeating Costa Rica in straight sets (25-18, 25-23, 25-19). With fewer errors than the opponent (16 to 23), and a difference of 36-30 in attacks, the Canadians claimed the victory to finish in second place of Pool B with 10 points from two victories and a loss in this phase. Kyla Richey with 18 points and Margaret Barclay with 15 were the top scores of the contest, followed by Costa Ricans Verania Willis and Karen Cope with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Pool C in Huacho

Dominican Republic 3, Mexico 0Dominican Republic advanced directly to the semifinal phase of the event after scoring an easy 25-17, 25-13, 25-18 victory over Mexico to win Pool C with a 3-0 record and 14 points. Mexico dropped to 1-2 and 6 points. The Dominicans dominated in blocks (9-1) and kills (42-29). Prisilla Rivera was the leading scorer for the winners with 14 points followed by Bethania De la Cruz with 11, including four blocks. Mexico’s Samantha Bricio finished with 14 points while Lizbeth Sainz and Alejandra Isiordia added 10 and 9 respectively.

Brazil 3, Colombia 0Brazil finished in second place of the Pool C by outplaying Colombia 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-18). Gabriela Braga Guimaraes finished with 17 points to be the best scorer, while Sara Silva Aparecida registered 15, both for Brazil. Colombian Maria Margarita Martinez finished with 13 and Melissa Rangel with 9. The Brazilians totaled 13 blocks against 4 scored by the Colombians. Both teams finished with 4 aces and the winners made 16 errors to 21 by the losers.